Peanut Sauce Spice Baby

I have to give credit where credit is due. The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Cambridge, MA, where I stayed for the Healthy Living Summit last weekend, really had it goin’ on. Right off the bat their customer service was fabulous and the front desk staff was so kind and accommodating.

We stepped into our very spacious room and I was blown away at how modern and clean the rooms were; clean-looking and literally clean which I automatically assume when I get into a hotel room but it’s not always the case unfortunately.

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There was a walkway behind the bed that led to the vanity on the left and the bathroom on the right.

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I really appreciated this vanity area. This is where I got ready for the day and evening.

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And I always love a nice bathroom. Open-mouthed smile

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To top it all off, we had an incredible view from our room.

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I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a great place to stay when visiting the Boston area. Thank you to the Hyatt staff for such a comfortable stay and for accommodating our large healthy living group so well.

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Got wrinkles? I do.

They’re happy wrinkles because I smile all of the time.

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In our swag bags from HLS we were given Hydroxatone Instant Lift pads that supposedly help ward off wrinkles. The directions are to place these pads on your wrinkles for 20 minutes every other morning. They are very soothing which I like, and the directions suggest keeping them in the fridge for an even cooler soothing effect. But about those wrinkles, we shall see.

I thought if nothing else I might give someone a giggle from this self-portrait…

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It’s good to embarrass yourself sometimes right? Done and done. Keeping it classy.

I enjoyed a cup of coffee yesterday morning in my love mug that I got as a wedding shower gift from my mom and dad. I feel like it’s too cute to use, but I really needed the warm fuzzy feeling yesterday, so I broke it out. Mom would want me to use it anyway. Right, mom?

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Breakfast was the exact same as yesterday and lunch was eaten at my desk; both very lame. Therefore no photos.

After work I met up with my girlfriend Courtney who I went to school with and who is also a dietitian. We met at Centennial Lakes and walked around the Farmer’s Market and made a loop through Whole Foods. It’s a lot of fun walking through both of those places with another dietitian. We have lots to criticize and discuss. Smile

We spent the majority of our Whole Foods trip in the nut butter aisle as I contemplated buying some more sunflower seed butter. We also spent quality time in front of the chocolate. If you can believe it, I walked away empty-handed. I know, I’m impressed too.

Dinner came together in a pinch.

I threw together mixed greens, mushrooms, red bell pepper, cilantro, grape tomatoes, black beans, a small amount of feta (because I wasn’t sure if feta worked on this salad), and topped it all with Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard dressing.

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Dana made us strawberry banana soft serve for dessert. I watched last week’s episode of SYTYCD. It was a quiet night which was just what I needed.

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Zucchini AGAIN

This is turning into a very random post, but now I have to share a recipe with you that I made back on Tuesday evening. Thai Peanut salad complete with zucchini pasta making it 100% grain free. It was AWESOME.

 

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Such a beautiful complex dish but it’s really not. Wait no, it is beautiful, but it’s NOT complex. But man, be careful with the peanut sauce. It tends to run on the spicy side. I forgot about that and am such a spice baby. My nose was running as I ate this dish but I still really enjoyed it.

Thai Peanut Salad
Print
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • medium zucchini
  • medium carrot, shredded using knife, food processor, or vegetable peeler
  • ¾ cup cooked mukimame
  • ½ cup red bell pepper, chopped
  • ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
  • 3 Tbsp. peanuts, chopped
  • a drizzle of peanut sauce (I actually used store-bought this time)
Instructions
  1. Using a mandolin or a sharp knife, cut zucchini into thin linguini-like “pasta”
  2. Place zucchini in colander over sink, sprinkle with salt, let sit for 10-15 minutes. Pat dry.
  3. Plate zucchini on two plates. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Top with remaining ingredients.

So there you have it. The 10 millionth way I have shown you to use zucchini. The possibilities are endless!

I am off to conquer my Friday, my favorite day of the week. Make it a happy day!

Continue Reading Peanut Sauce Spice Baby

Prescribe Myself Some Rest

Hi friends! I had so much fun reliving my weekend at the Healthy Living Summit, but I am happy to now be back to normalcy again. In case you missed it, you can catch up on my most recent HLS Boston trip.

Destination Boston HLS12

Shake Out the Nerves: HLS Day 1

Cheers to New Friends: HLS Day 2

Decisions, Decisions: HLS Day 3

It’s time to get back into the groove. You remember how this works right? It’s time for a breakdown of my Wednesday. Here we go.

Breakfast

Overnight Chia Bowl made with:

  • Fage 0% fat Greek yogurt
  • Silk unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • chia seeds
  • stevia
  • blueberries
  • strawberries

I let all of the ingredients except the strawberries mingle together over night, and topped the bowl with fresh strawberries in the morning.

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Lunch

Curry turkey salad over a bed of lettuce. I wrote down the recipe for this one but haven’t decided if I want to share or not because I wasn’t over the top thrilled by it. It was good though don’t get me wrong.

In the mix: celery, onions, turkey breast, grapes, Greek yogurt, and spices.

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Dinner

I stopped at mom and dad’s after work to hang out with them before heading over to meet with some girl friends for So You Think You Can Dance? I munched on some trail mix while relaxing, and then made my way to the table for dinner.

I had a very random, yet delicious dinner: spinach, green beans, and tomato…

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And a half of a banana with peanut butter for some protein which went unphotographed so I used an old photo instead. Perfect!

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The rest of the evening was spent with my girlfriends Amanda, Jules, and Sara. We girl-talked it up, watched SYTYCD, and ate M & M’s (BTW I have been over-doing it on the chocolate lately) while lounging on the couch. I had a great time with them, and always do. Kate, we missed you!

U.C. Update

I was going to end this post with a recipe, but decided to wait on that and give you an update on my Ulcerative Colitis instead. It has now been 3 months that I have been sick and unfortunately, I have to report that I’m still not feeling well. Certain symptoms have subsided such as bloating, which I can mostly attribute to removing gluten from my diet, but other symptoms (which I’ll spare you the details of) are still not under control.

I go through peaks and valleys where I am feeling fairly well for a few days, and then something happens whether it’s stress or a busy weekend, and I am thrown off again.

I am finding my energy level to be very low, so much as I am not working out nearly as much as I used to and it’s becoming less and less of a priority. Sleeping has become the priority, and I am truly trying to honor my body’s request for it.

I am seeing the doctor regularly, eating a very healthy diet, taking my medications as prescribed, sleeping, being active when I can, but the one thing I know need to work on is rest. With the summer being so busy, it is hard to rest. Maybe I should give myself a prescription to rest, then maybe I’ll do it? I’ll work on that. I think this is something that most of us could probably work on, am I right?

My mom reminds me that in the big picture of life, this time in my life is just a small little nick in the frame. With that being said, I must remind myself that not working out is not a big deal right now, and that rest is okay and saying no to invites is okay and that friends will understand. It’s hard to remember that when you are so used to the opposite.

I don’t mean to be a downer but I really wanted you all to get an update because it’s been a little while since I’ve given you one. I continue to try to stay positive, but this is really taking a toll on me. I won’t be sick forever, I can promise you that. I was just hoping to have fought this off already. I’m still me, just a more delicate me. I can’t wait for the day when I can tell you I am in remission and feeling fabulous. Let’s hope it’s soon.

Thank you all for letting me vent. I feel much better. I hope you all have a great Thursday and I look forward to catching up with you again soon!

Continue Reading Prescribe Myself Some Rest

Decisions, Decisions: HLS Day 3

It’s time for the final recap of The Healthy Living Summit. Presenting you with day 3 (Sunday)…More photos, less talky.

HLS 5k

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(photo courtesy of Courtney)

Healthy Breakfast and Good-Bye’s

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(photo courtesy of Jamie)

Harvard Square

Both Shannon and I had later flights on Sunday, so we took advantage of our extra time by walking to Harvard and admiring their beautiful campus and the surrounding area.

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It looks a little different from good old Minnesota State University, Mankato! It is a breathtaking campus.

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We oogled the fresh goods at a local farmer’s market and bought flavored nuts from Q’s Nuts, a local company, and I bought a sweet apple for the airport.

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A cupcake truck to tempt us on our walk home…we denied it after much contemplation.

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Back at the hotel, we had 45 minutes to shower, pack, and be down in the lobby to catch a cab back to the airport. In case you’re wondering, yes I did have to sit on my suitcase in order to close it, thanks to all of the great swag! My bag weighed in at 48.5 lbs on the way home.

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At the airport I polished off a small sample of Q’s nuts, my large farmer’s market apple, and then decided I needed some greenery, so wandered around until I found myself a nice little side salad. My first flight was from Boston to Chicago.

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A layover in Chicago (for 3.5 hours) led me to buy more food. Another salad…

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Hmm….what else do I want? So many temptations surrounding me.

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After about 45 minutes I decided that a bowl of vanilla Fro Yo was just what I wanted.  Those apples look pretty tasty though don’t they? I walk by them every time I am at the Chicago airport and drool by the window.

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Fro Yo two days in a row. That needs to stop now. Have you noticed I am quite the indecisive person? It’s not something I’m proud of. Smile with tongue out

Next flight, Chicago to Minneapolis. I munched on a box of Wild Harvest Organic Raisins from the conference and then tried to sleep (with no such luck). I arrived in Minneapolis around 12:30, and crawled into bed around 1 am. It was a LOOONNGG day of traveling and I was so happy to be home.

The main message I took from the conference is, be true to you and remember why you started your blog. I started B.N. to share my love for food and fitness in hope to inspire others (and motivate myself) to live a healthy lifestyle. What you read on my blog is all me. I write how I talk, and am real with you every day. Not every day is a great day, but I do try and find the positives in every situation and keep my blog uplifting and light. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

To the great friends I met over the weekend: you are all such incredible, inspirational people. I learned something from each and every one of you. I look forward to staying in touch over the years and hopefully meeting up with you all again!

I am so glad I made the decision to attend HLS12. I attained so much valuable information and am now finally starting to digest and process it all. I am in the process of putting some of what I learned to work! Expect great changes to Beautifully Nutty in the future.

I will be back to normal posts again. The recipes are piling up and I have some major catching up to do. I hope you’re excited!

Happy  Hump Day!

Continue Reading Decisions, Decisions: HLS Day 3

Cheers to New Friends: HLS Day 2

I won’t waste any time. Jumping into day 2 of the Healthy Living Summit.

I woke up Saturday morning feeling ready to take on the day. I was happy I had called it an early night on Friday. The morning began with a delicious breakfast full of fresh fruit, an egg scramble creation created by a fellow blogger, and other tasty Wild Harvest recipes.

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I dished up loads of fruit, egg scramble, maple turkey patties (my favorite), veggie potato hash, fruit and yogurt parfait, and a super strong cup of coffee.

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The coffee actually tasted too strong to drink probably because I am used to weaker brews these days. They seem to sit better in my belly.

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I mingled with the ladies at my table and had a chance to chit-chat for a minute with Courtney. I love her blog, and was thrilled I was able to meet her! She is even prettier in person if you can believe it.

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(Photo courtesy of Courtney)

After breakfast we were coached through a mini CrossFit session presented by Reebok. They provided us with these snazzy headbands and challenged us to a introductory intense workout: complete as many sets of 7 squats and 15 jumps as you can in 5 minutes. Although it was only a short workout, I was really feeling the burn afterwards and continue to feel it a couple of days later!

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The rest of the day was spent sitting in on the sessions. I attended:

(The ladies of Wild Harvest which is based out of Eden Prairie, MN btw…woop woop!)

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I wish I had a clone so I could have been in two places at once because I wanted to go to ALL of the sessions. I learned so much valuable information on ways to improve my blog, and continued to meet many wonderful people throughout the day.

My brain was officially mush at the end of the day. Information overload. I knew it would take me a few days to digest it all and actually put it to use in improving my own blog. I can’t believe how fast the day went.

Next on the agenda was dinner at Russell House in Harvard Square with the beautiful Shannon, Jamie, and Caroline.

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We cheers’ed to new friends (make fun of the cheesiness I don’t care!). Open-mouthed smile

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(Image courtesy of Jamie at studioeats.com) 

We had amazing conversations, ate delicious food, sipped our wine, and laughed until our cheeks hurt.

Dinner: A bed of mixed greens with figs, walnuts, grilled chicken, and honey dijon dressing. YUM.

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We hit up J.P. Licks for dessert which deserved all of the hype it had been getting. So stinkin’ good. I ordered chocolate and vanilla fro yo with Oreo topping.

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We hailed a cab home around 10:30 and called it a night.

I was on cloud 9 at the end of this jam-packed day. It is so unbelievable to meet such genuine people who have common interests and who you get along with so well. Although these girls on live on the east coast, I still plan to keep in touch and visit them again in the future. I fell in love with each and every one of them and am so grateful to have met them. They took me under their wing and made me feel comfortable throughout the weekend. I miss them already.

I just have one more day to Healthy Living Summit recap for you and then I will be back to normal posts again full or recipes and tangents. I just don’t want to short-change you on any of the details of my fantastic weekend. I hope you are all having a great week so far. Catch up with you soon!

Continue Reading Cheers to New Friends: HLS Day 2

Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna

Another awesome Saturday to go down in the books. It started off with a mango, banana, and almond milk smoothie.

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And a piece of almond bread slathered with PB2.

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Dana and I sipped our coffee on the deck while tossing the ball to Moose. It was a very relaxing morning.

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During the middle of the day we headed to celebrate our friend’s son, Leo’s 1 year birthday.

We mingled outside, hopped in the blow up hopper, watched as 5 kids opened up Leo’s gifts for him, and ate some awesome food. I didn’t snap a photo but I had a plate full of pulled turkey, Ramen salad, some sort of pesto pasta salad (maybe?), fruit, a peanut butter cup chocolate chip cookie and a piece of birthday cake. OMG everything was fabulous and so much fun. Leo is such a cutie and handled all of the extra attention so well.

After the party we stopped at Gertens Greenhouse and Garden Center to look for some plants for our front yard.

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We had a $50 gift card from our wedding and we did a great job of spending as close as we could to that amount. With a water thrown in our total came out to $49.66. Not bad, huh?

We bought three Barberry plants and one Sedum. I’m excited to see how they look in the front! Thanks Brian and Amanda!

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We stopped home to drop off the plants and pick up the pooch. We took off for a nearby little lake for a walk. Moose was not on his best behavior but it was still a nice walk. He wanted to get into everything and kept cutting us off and pulling more so than usual. He has his good days and bad days just like me.

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Dinner

For dinner I got creative with the zucchini once again, this time in the form of lasagna. The zucchini is popping up in our garden here and there and you better believe it’s going to get eaten. 

To start, I cut my zucchini into thin lasagna-like noodles. I sprinkled them with salt in a colander, and let them sit in the sink for 10-15 minutes. Then, I removed them from the sink and patted them dry with a paper towel.

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Next, I combined 1 cup of cooked black beans, 1/4 cup diced red onion, 3/4 cup corn, 1/4 cup diced tomatoes, 2 teaspoons of chili powder, and a dash of salt.

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Next I began the layering process starting with salsa on the bottom, then a sprinkle of bean mixture, zucchini, salsa, bean mixture, zucchini, salsa, bean mixture, and topped with cheddar cheese.

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Into the oven it went for 45 minutes at 400°. Then I flipped the oven to broil and broiled for 2 minutes to crisp the top.

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I let it sit a few minutes before slicing and plated it up.

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So pretty!

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Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients

  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 1 cup black beans, cooked
  • 3/4 cup corn
  • 1/4 red onion, diced
  • 1/4 cup tomatoes, diced
  • 2 tsp. chili powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly grease bread loaf pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. Cut zucchini into lasagna-like strips. In a strainer in the sink, sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 10-15 minutes, then drain and pat dry with paper towel.
  3. In medium bowl combine beans, corn, onion, tomatoes, chili powder and salt.
  4. Begin layering: 1/3 cup salsa, 1/3 of bean mixture, zucchini, 1/3 cup salsa, 1/3 bean mixture, zucchini, last of the bean mixture, last of the salsa, finish with the cheese.
  5. Bake for 45 minutes then switch oven to broil. Broil for 2 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Cut carefully and serve. Finish with a few sprigs of cilantro.

Such a great spin on lasagna. I hope you’re not getting tired of all of the zucchini recipes! Pretty soon there will be a bunch of tomato recipes once they start turning red in the garden.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Continue Reading Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna

A Joke for Monday

The weekend isn’t really over, is it? I feel like it never happened it flew by so fast. As always.

It was a wonderful weekend. I didn’t do much on the side of cooking and didn’t  develop any new exciting recipes over the weekend, but I surely enjoyed relaxing at home and with friends.

Saturday

Breakfast was a cup of coffee with stevia, and a piece of almond bread toast with PB2 and cinnamon.

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The fam bam and I headed out for a 3.35 mile run around the neighborhood. The weather was PERFECT. It is finally starting to cool down around here and the temperature was high 60’s with a light sprinkle which felt great.

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We switched up our grocery shopping day to Saturday instead of Sunday since we both had fun plans for Sunday and wouldn’t be able to go on our usual day.

When we were at Costco we stumbled upon a super large pet bed for Moose for only $20! Seriously you don’t find that price anywhere on pet beds. His other bed had seen better days and he was definitely ready for a new one; a big boy bed.

I think he likes it. Actually what’s funny is that we had to force him onto the bed for this photo. I think he likes it? Smile with tongue out

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Lunch was very random. I had grabbed a sample or two at Costco, and when I got home, I wasn’t sure what I was hungry for so I made it a small snack type of lunch.

I started with cooked carrots with cinnamon.

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Then oven roasted turkey breast with cheese.

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And then I think I moved on to a couple of bites of peanut butter and then called it a day, but I’m not for sure.

In the afternoon, I relaxed and laid out on the deck. It was wonderful and much needed. I have been exhausted.

Dinner was Roasted Butternut Squash Soup that I made a while ago and stored in the freezer. I love having homemade soups in the freezer for days like Saturday night, where I had no inclination to cook or make anything. All we had to do was grab a couple of bags of soup from the freezer, pop them in a bowl in the microwave, and top them with some chives.

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Easy and very tasty once again.

Sunday

On Sunday I headed to Mankato to meet up with a couple of my girlfriends from college. Being that we were all dietetics majors, there is always food involved at our get-togethers.

I brought apples, mango, cherries and yogurt dip, Terra sweets and carrots chips (which are amazing btw), and to the left unpictured is a giant bag of trail mix which I dominated.

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We also had pretzel chips and hummus, carrots, and lettuce wraps. Pretty healthy, right?!

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I loved loved catching up with the girls. They both have beautiful little baby girls so I got lots of quality baby time. I love baby time, and girl time, so it was a great Sunday.

When I got home, Dana, Moose, and I went for a leisurely walk around the neighborhood, then I got ready for the week ahead.

Monday Joke

So, I was thinking…since I tend to have a hard time dealing with Mondays, with going back into work week and all, how about I try to throw you all a joke on Mondays when I remember? I know I am not the only one out there who struggles with this day, so we can all benefit from it. I’m not guaranteeing any quality jokes, but if they can at least make you smile, or give you the slightest chuckle, I will feel like I’ve done my job.

Q: How do you turn a soup into gold?

A: Add twenty four carrots!

Ba-da-boom-ching. Happy Monday friends.

Got any good ones? Please share and make us all smile.

Continue Reading A Joke for Monday

Dinner Date with My Girls

This is going to be a short but very sweet post. Last night I met up with two of my great girlie friends, Kate and Heidi (also two of my bridesmaids) for dinner at Emma Krumbees in Belle Plaine.

Emma Krumbees is an old bakery and restaurant that offers everything from burgers, to salads, sandwiches, flatbreads, and has an extensive breakfast menu too.

I decided on the Citrus Chicken Salad and I ordered the half portion because whole salads at restaurants tend to be absolutely ridiculous. In the salad was iceberg lettuce, red onion, avocado, tomato, grilled chicken, and a lemon citrus vinaigrette on the side. It was a very simple salad, and it was pretty tasty. The amount of food was perfect.

After dinner we walked on over to the gift shop and chit chatted along the way. Emma Krumbees also has an apple orchard and in the fall you can come and pick your own apples. I did that a long time ago with my mom and dad, and would love to do it again this fall!

After a couple of hours we were forced to say our good-bye’s and go our separate ways. It has been so bittersweet getting together with Kate lately because she is moving away to Georgia in less than a week. I am attempting to soak up every last bit of her before she leaves. I definitely will be making plans to go visit her out there.

As always, it was so good to be with my girls, and although Kate will be in Georgia soon, we are still going to Skype, and have a glass of wine together that way, and before we know it I will be heading out there to visit, or she will be coming home to visit.

I stopped by my mom and dad’s on the way home and hung out with them for about an hour before heading “home, home”. Mom and dad’s is my second home, and my house is my first home. I love the comfort of each place.

The rest of the night was spent hanging out with my men.

Today has been an absolutely AMAZING Saturday. I have lots to share with you tomorrow, but it’s going to have to wait. I hope you are all having a great day as well. 🙂

Continue Reading Dinner Date with My Girls

Turning Into a Carrot

Happy Thursday!

So, this post is ALL over the board. I missed a day of blogging so I’m going to try to catch you up on anything I feel is important enough to share.

First of all, this arrived on our doorstep yesterday. My very own food dehydrator. No more spending mega dollars on dried fruit and veggie chips at the store, I’m making my own. You better believe there won’t be any preservatives or added sugars in my dried goods. I can’t wait to get this up and running. I am particularly excited to try to make veggie chips. They will be a great crispy snack, or at least I am hoping they will be.

For dinner Tuesday night I made myself an egg scramble with 1 egg, 1 (or 2?) egg whites, cheddar cheese, and diced avocado. I topped it with Wild Harvest’s Mango Salsa and had a tasty meal in no time. I also ate cooked carrots–I think I am officially turning into a carrot the way I have been eating those bad boys lately.

Wednesday Breakfast

I started my day off yesterday with a cup of coffee and a bowl of cinnamon and honey yogurt.

I was at a conference for work all day and since lunch wasn’t provided, I brought my own of course. I packed cooked carrots, and a banana pancake with almond butter. I also brought an extra banana in case I needed something else, but it turned out that I didn’t eat the banana but should have eaten it, because by 5:00 I was not feeling so hot. I know that if I go too long without eating I tend to bloat, but the conference setting we are in doesn’t make snacking very easy. First of all food and drink are technically “not allowed” in the auditorium we are in, so if I did want a snack I would have to have one outside of the auditorium, and second, it’s so cramped in the stadium seats, that reaching into your bag to dig out a snack makes for quite the tricky task.

 

I don’t want to deal with the bloating again today though, and since I am at the conference again, I’m going to do my best to have snacks in between meals to help tame my gut.

During lunch break, my co-workers and I set out for a walk. It was incredibly humid and hot here yesterday, so we walked at more of a leisurely pace than we normally would. It felt great to stretch the legs for a while after being cramped so long.

After the conference, I had plans to meet up with my girlfriends, so I packed myself a little snacky dinner: cheddar cheese, a hard-boiled egg, more carrots, and honeydew melon.

I headed over to my friend Julie’s house along with my friends Kate and Amanda. We caught up, laughed a lot, watched SYTYCD and completely enjoyed eachother’s company. I love all of those girls so much. Girlfriends are so amazing. Oh, and I cannot forget to mention we also hung out with her two adorable Maltese pups, Ava and Bella. Seriously the cutest little furballs.
This old lady (moi) had to leave the party at 8:30 to get home and pack her lunch for today so she could make sure to hit the hay by 10:00 pm. I need a lot of sleep these days.

I am out of here for the day, unless Moose decides to jump on my computer and write a guest post. 🙂 Have a great day every one! It’s looking like a beautiful one around here.

Continue Reading Turning Into a Carrot

I’m a Saucy Gal

I am happy to say I survived yet another Monday. I hope you all did too!

I am still doing my best to stay on track with the SCD intro diet, but did deviate slightly from the plan mentioned yesterday. I started it off right with two hard-boiled eggs and pineapple juice jello. I know that jello in the morning sounds totally weird, but I was limited for options. I didn’t even give myself my morning cup of coffee and being that it was Monday and that I was trying to follow the intro diet which generally makes me feel a little low energy, it made for a pretty lethargic day.I felt the same low-energy back a few weeks ago when I had started the SCD. The only difference was, I started it on a Sunday and didn’t have to be at work which can of course be draining (I also had that Monday off). Needless to say, yesterday was a little rough, but I did my best to not let it show.

It was obvious to me that I was missing my morning mojo, when I was on my way to work and realized I forgot my lunch in the fridge at home. Womp wompppp. Luckily, I only live about 9 minutes away from work so I was able to come home during my lunch break, but I had originally had intentions of running to Target on break and scoping out the women’s clothing clearance rack. Maybe another day.

My food for the day was extremely lame. Lunch and dinner were basically identical.

Lunch: Crockpot chicken with honey mustard, cooked carrots with cinnamon, and applesauce.

Dinner: Crockpot chicken with honey mustard, carrots with cinnamon, and a piece of SCD cheesecake which I still don’t like, and a bite of peanut butter.

I had told myself I was going to lay off the pb for a couple of days (this is where I deviated), but I am finding it very difficult to do that. It is such a major part of my diet and I love it oh so much. During the first couple weeks of the diet, I was doing a great job of keeping a food and symptom diary, but since then have kind of forgotten about it. I know it would be a good idea for me to start it up again so I can really track my trigger foods. I should probably do that.

I plan to continue the SCD, and continue to slowly introduce foods into my diet. Eventually, I would like to adapt to a SCD/Paleo/more personalized type diet. For one thing, I don’t want to live a life without chocolate; one of my absolute favorite foods. Life is too short and I want to be able to enjoy that little piece of heaven on earth. Second, I want to adapt the diet to my own life and needs. Everyone is different and reacts differently to foods, and I will continue to experiment and learn what my body is able to handle.

Slightly off-subject, but before dinner, I met up with a new friend (I sound like I am in first grade I realize). Our mutual friend, Kalley introduced us. Her name is Marissa and she is a fellow dietitian. We met at Centennial Lakes in Edina and went for a nice warm stroll around the lake. It’s always great to meet other dietitians and hear about the different jobs in the field and talk about our experiences with education and dietetic internships. We had LOTS to talk about. Thanks Kal for introducing us, and Marissa can’t wait to meet up again!

*********

I mentioned yesterday that I was a very busy girl in the kitchen on Sunday. I had prepared a laundry list of foods including homemade BBQ sauce and guess what? You’re going to hear about it. You all know I am a saucy gal. I love sauce and dips whether it’s for chicken, fish, broccoli, whatever, I just love sauciness. I know that if I want to survive this SCD bit for much longer, I need to step it up in the sauce department, so I got to work on a BBQ sauce. My inspiration came from this recipe. Here’s what I threw together.

BBQ Sauce (SCD-friendly, Gluten-free)

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 cup onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-46 ounce can tomato juice
  • 1 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1 1/4 tsp ground mustard
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • a touch of cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • cracked black pepper
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup honey

Directions

  1. Over medium heat, saute onions and garlic in oil until transparent, about 3 minutes.
  2. Add remaining items. Stir and turn to medium-low.
  3. Let simmer uncovered for about 2 hours; stir often. Sauce will thicken as the water evaporates.
  4. Once sauce has thickened and reduced down, place in food processor and puree to smooth.

That’s it! Okay, two hours plus later, and that’s it. I have only tasted it off of a spoon so far, not on any meat or in a meal yet, but it is definitely tasty.

I am feeling pretty lethargic yet again today; but I think it’s due to the weather. It is rainy and gloomy here; the kind of day where you just want to snuggle on the couch with some reality TV and great snacks. Oh…if only. 🙂

I hope you all have a great day. Catch up with you soon.

Question of the day: What’s your favorite condiment?

Mine is probably ketchup if you can believe that. I really love honey mustard too though, especially Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard. I miss that stuff!

Continue Reading I’m a Saucy Gal

Banana Cookies & Feeling The Love

Could we please slow this weekend down a bit? It is FLYING by and I’m not okay with that!

We had a great day yesterday…

I set my alarm for 7:00 am with the hopes that I would be motivated to get out of bed and get a run in to begin the day. Well, the alarm went off at 7, but I just wasn’t having it. Although I think I only slept for another 15 minutes after that, I was happy with my decision to skip the workout yesterday. I officially declared it a rest day.

After I rolled out of bed and showered up, I made myself a tasty comfy belly breakfast: banana with homemade almond butter and a touch of honey.

Then it was time to finish getting all prettied up before hitting the road for our friend’s Kari and Tony’s wedding. I’ve been friends with Kari since 1st grade. She is one of the most genuine, kind-hearted, and thoughtful people I know. I was very excited to help them celebrate their special day.

The Ceremony

As I mentioned yesterday, the morning started off very rainy, and it was still sprinkling when we were walking into the ceremony at 10:00 am, but after the ceremony, it started clearing out. The ceremony was beautiful. Kari was glowing with happiness and Tony was cool, calm, and beaming as they exchanged vows. They chose a song called “I Will Be Here” to be sung during the unity sand part of the ceremony, and this was a song that Dana and I had also chose to be sung at our wedding ceremony. I couldn’t help but be brought back to my own wedding. I teared up several times because 1. You could see and feel the love between Kari and Tony and it was so real, and 2. I was able to reminisce about my own wedding and remember the joyful moments. I am such a sap, wow. I love weddings.

Reception

We had about an hour in between the ceremony and needing to be to the reception, so we headed home and hung out with Moose. On our way to the reception, we dropped him off at the groomers’ to get a full on doggy shampoo and brush out. OMG he was stanky…and I mean so bad that I couldn’t even touch him. Poor dog. I think it was from all the swimming the weekend before. He’s just not used to it, and his skin and body oils couldn’t keep up. I don’t know. That’s just my guess. But he was rank.

At 12:30, we made it to the loading dock on Harriet Island in St. Paul. Their wedding reception was on a boat on the Mississippi! How cool right?

But first, we had to get a photo in front of the building behind us because this is where our dear friends Adam and Stacy had their wedding reception. I boogied the night away right inside that building. A lot of great memories there.

Next, it was time to board.

We boarded at 12:30 and took our seats.

For lunch, a “brunch” style buffet was served. There was french toast, muffins, potatoes, eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit. Another first wedding experience for me was having a brunch. Very cool! I was even able to stick to SCD by eating scrambled eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit. Bring on the protein!

However, I will not tell a lie…I ate a piece of wedding cake. That is not SCD legal, but I decided I wanted to live a little and went for it. I didn’t have any repercussions but this isn’t to say I will eat cake every day. I will admit though, that cake was TASTY! Num.

After lunch and the speeches, Dana and I made our way to the top of the boat where there was open air and a nice cool breeze. At this point, the sun was completely out and it was just perfect outside. We cruised the Mississippi for three hours.

Then it was time for the first dance. We made our way back down to watch. Isn’t she stunning?

Then back outside we went to cool off again. I had the chance to catch up with my long time friend, Malia who I have known since I was 3 years old. We met at dance class and ironically, my dad and her mom went to grade school together. After we met in dance, we went to school together through 6th grade and have been friends since. We still keep in touch and I love her to pieces. It’s always great to see that gorgeous girl.

We deboarded the boat at about 4:00, and wished the newlyweds well once more before heading home. We picked up Moose on the way home. He looks like a stud, and no longer smells at all. We have our boy back. Now I can hug him and kanoodle him again. 🙂

Dinner?

I wasn’t really in the mood for anything in particular for dinner, so I made it a snacky kind of night. I ate watermelon, cooked carrots, almond butter, and then I made these…

This was definitely a cookie experiment as I wasn’t using a recipe. I threw some ingredients into a bowl, baked them up, and crossed my fingers for a decent outcome.

Banana Cookies (Grain-free, SCD)

Ingredients

  • 2 very ripe bananas, smashed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper or non-stick cooking mat.
  2. In small bowl mix to combine flour, baking soda, and cinnamon; set aside.
  3. In medium bowl beat together bananas, egg, vanilla, and honey.
  4. Add flour to banana mixture; mix until combined.
  5. Drop cookies onto baking sheet.
  6. Bake for 19-21 minutes. Cookies will be lightly golden on the bottom and tops are firm but soft.

I immediately said that these would be 100 times better if they had chocolate chips in them, but since that’s a no-no with the SCD, I opted out. But even without the chocolate, they were pretty good! They taste like a softer, lighter version of banana bread. Dana and I ate half the batch last night if that tells you anything. If you are looking for a gluten-free, SCD-friendly cookie recipe, I would give this one a shot! It was super easy too.

Alright, it’s Sunday Funday which means we have some grocery shopping to do. Catch up with you all soon! Happy Day!

Continue Reading Banana Cookies & Feeling The Love
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